In March, the Florida Panthers acquired beautiful information surrounding defenseman Aaron Ekblad. Ekblad acquired a large 20-game suspension following a violation of the NHL’s Performing Enhancement Substance coverage, which was definitely a brutal blow for the Panthers on the time.
Florida handled a rash of accidents earlier than and after the suspension. Ekblad being out left the group skinny when it comes to depth. What made issues a bit harder is that it wasn’t precisely clear when the previous No. 1 decide can be eligible to return.
Gamers suspended on this circumstance are normally prohibited from re-joining the group till 10 days earlier than the suspension ends. Nonetheless, Ekblad’s suspension carried into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Florida clinched a postseason berth, which means Ekblad can be eligible to return for Recreation 3 of the Panthers’ first-round collection.
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There’s now an answer to this matter. The NHL has allowed Ekblad to return to group actions 10 days earlier than the second evening of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, deputy commissioner Invoice Daly informed The Athletic on Thursday. The second evening of this 12 months’s postseason is April twentieth. This implies Ekblad is now eligible to partake in group actions.
Ekblad emerged as the most effective defensemen within the recreation earlier than the 2020s. Nonetheless, his recreation has declined noticeably since then. Nonetheless, the Panthers defender is a really efficient participant who had a superb efficiency in final 12 months’s postseason. His efficiency definitely helped the Panthers win their first Stanley Cup in franchise historical past.
It stays to be seen who the Panthers will face within the playoffs. As of now, it appears to be like as if they’ll match up with the Tampa Bay Lightning as soon as once more. Nonetheless, issues can change between now and the tip of the season. It’s going to definitely be attention-grabbing to see how Ekblad impacts the collection as soon as he returns to the lineup in Recreation 3.